More by Sam Carchidi

Danny Briere provided the theatre, but Dan Carcillo supplied the comic relief in the Flyers' 6-2 pounding of the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday at the Wachovia Center.

Briere, the 32-year-old forward, scored a pair of goals to reach the 500-point mark in his career, triggering a standing ovation.

Carcillo lost a third-period fight to Jamal Mayers, but gleefully signaled to the pumped-up crowd as he went to the penalty box.

It was his second-period goal, however, that had the crowd buzzing.

Carcillo, skating from the left circle to the right post, made it 3-0 with a picturesque goal midway through the middle period.

The left winger, known more for his fists than his goals, deked defenseman Luke Schenn to the ice, then beat goalie Jonas Gustavsson with a backhander before celebrating, Briere-like, by going low to the ice and starting an exaggerated fist pump. He skated to Flyers’ bench and exchanged high fives, then went near the visitors’ bench and pretended he was high-fiving the Leafs.

“Well I’ve actually done that before in L.A. in my rookie year," said a laughing Carcillo, referring to his goal, not the mocking of the Leafs. "Is it easy to remember? Like déjà vu.”

After the game, a Toronto reporter asked Leafs defenseman Ian White the following: What do you think of Dan Carcillo and the antics? Up in the media row they were calling him a poor man’s Sean Avery. What was the reaction from your bench?

“What can you do? He scored a nice goal and got a fight, you know people like to see that from a fan’s perspective, I’m sure," White said. "I mean, that’s a little unsportsmanlike, but what can you say; he scored a goal and got in a fight.”

“He’s been really effective, and he has stayed out of the box," coach Peter Laviolette said. "Danny hasn’t done a lot of things that would put him in the box. He’s been in control of his game and has got some skill, and he can play physical. He’s the type of guy that can wear it on his sleeve. He was good tonight. Really good.”

Notes. Michael Leighton (30 saves) continued his solid goaltending and is now 5-0-1....Rookie James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist, giving him two points in consecutive games for the first time in his career....Chris Pronger (three assists) had his first three-point game as a Flyer.....Darroll Powe led the Flyers with four hits.....There were 80 penalty minutes and four fights.....Mike Richards had his ninth power-play goal; the Flyers had three power-play goals for the first time since Dec. 8....Thursday comes a much stiffer test _ on the road at Pittsburgh, a team that is 3-0 against the Flyers this season.